KC-46 Demos its Aerial Refuelling Systems

Oct 14, 2015 ASDNews Source : Cobham

The KC-46A Pegasus notched another success this week when the systems at the heart of aerial refuelling were demonstrated on EMD-2 with the deployment of both drogue systems and the boom

On Thursday, EMD-2 successfully extended the drogue refuelling baskets from both the Centerline Drogue System, located on the belly of the fuselage, and from the Wing Aerial Refuelling Pods, located on the wing tips, for probe receiver aircraft.  On Friday, EMD-2 extended the boom, the telescoping tube which an operator on the tanker aircraft extends to receptacle-equipped receiver aircraft. "The core mission of Pegasus is to fuel the fight, so deploying the boom and drogues signals real progress toward demonstrating the ability to pass fuel in flight," said Brig. Gen. Duke Z. Richardson, Program Executive Officer for Tankers at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. "This sets the stage for the main act, which is hooking up to and refuelling an aircraft in flight." 

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